This blog is meant to display my coins/currency notes/stamps, in an informative manner, which would be useful to users in knowing about the history of the period when these coins/banknotes/stamps were minted/printed and events/persons they honour/depict, both on Indian and foreign coins/banknotes/stamps. The content would be more in the nature of a walk down memory lane through my collection/articles.

“Bio-diversity is
important at every level. We live in a complex system where every living being
depends on every other in some or the other way. It is important that we
actively pursue a clear and current understanding of the system in which we
live, in order to sustain it.”

Mammals:
The Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals characterised by the presence of
mammary glands, the presence of hair or fur, specialised teeth, the presence of
a neo-cortex region in the brain and endothermic or “warm-blooded” bodies.

The brain regulates
endothermic and circulatory system, including a four-chambered heart.

In India, there are 410
species, 168 genera, 45 families and 13 orders of which nearly 89 species are
listed as “Threatened” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources (IUCN 2006).

Felicidae:
(Family of Cats):

Pallas’
Cat (Otocolobus manul):

They are about the size of
a domestic cat. Pallas’ cats are native to the steppe regions of Central Asia
and also inhabit some parts of Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan,
Kazakhstan and Kashmir in India.

They are solitary and
spend the day in caves, rock crevices, or marmot burrows and emerge in the late
afternoon for hunting. They hunt primarily by ambush or stalking, using low
vegetation and rocky terrain for cover. The feed largely on diurnally active
prey species such as gerbils, pikas, voles and chukar partridges, and sometimes
catch young marmots.

IUCN Status:
Near Threatened (NT)

Eurasian
Lynx (Lynx lynx):

This is one of the four
species within the Lynx genus of medium-sized wild cats. Neither the caracal,
sometimes called the Desert lynx, not the jungle cat, called the jungle lynx is
a member of the Lynx genus. The Eurasian lynx ranges from Central and Northern
Europe across Asia up to Northern Pakistan and India. The lynx is usually
solitary, although a small group of lynx may travel and hunt together
occasionally.

IUCN Status:
Least Concern (LC)

“Jungle
Cat” or “Reed Cat” or “Swamp Cat” (Felis
Chaus):

The Jungle Cat is a medium
sized cat native to Asia. In India, they are the most common of the small cats.
They inhabit savannas, tropical dry forests and reed-beds along rivers and
lakes in the lowlands, but, despite the name are not found in areas where
winter snowfall is common.

They have been observed
from sea levels to altitudes of 8,000 feet (or 2,400 metres) or sometimes
higher in the Himalayas. They frequent jungles or open country and are often
seen in the neighbourhood of villages.

IUCN Status:
Least Concern (LC)

Marbled
Cat (Pardofelis marmorata):

This is a small wild cat
of South and South-east Asia. Marbled Cats are found in tropical Indo-Malaya,
westward along the Himalayan foothills into Nepal. They are primarily
associated with moist and mixed deciduous-evergreen tropical forests.

The Marbled Cat is similar
in size to a domestic cat, with a more thickly furred tail, showing adaptation
to its arboreal lifestyle, where the tail is used as a counter-balance. Forest
canopies provide the Marbled Cat with much of its prey: birds, squirrels,
rodents and reptiles.

IUCN Status:
Vulnerable (VU)

Leopard
Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis):

This is a small wild cat
native to India. They live in tropical evergreen rainforests and plantations at
sea level, in sub-tropical deciduous and coniferous forests, in the foothills
of the Himalayas at altitudes above 1,000 metres (3,300 feet).

Leopard Cats are
carnivorous, feeding on a variety of small prey including mammals, lizards,
amphibians, birds and insects.

IUCN Status:
Least Concern (LC)

Snow
Leopard (Panthera uncia syn. Uncia uncia):

This is a large cat native
to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. Potential snow leopard
habitat in the Indian Himalayas is estimated at less than 90,000 sq. km (or
about 35,000 sq, miles) in the States of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Snow Leopards are crepuscular,
being most active at dawn and dusk. They are known for being extremely secretive
and well camouflaged.

IUCN Status:
Endangered (EN)

Indian
Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca):

This is a leopard
sub-species widely distributed in the Indian Sub-continent.

Indian leopards are not
common in habitat where tiger density is high and are wedged between prime
tiger habitat on the one side, and cultivated village land on the other. Where
the tiger population increases, tigers drive leopards off to areas located
closer to human settlements. In the Gir National Park, they are sympatric with
Asiatic lions.

Elsewhere in the Indian
Sub-Continent, they co-occur with Asiatic black bears, sloth bears, Indian
wolves, striped hyenas and wild dogs.

IUCN Status:
Near Threatened (NT)

Asiatic
lion or Indian Lion (Panthera leo persica):

This is a lion sub-species
that exists as a single population in the Indian State of Gujarat.

Since 2010, the lion
population in the Gir Forest National Park has steadily increased. By May 2015,
there were an estimated 523 individuals – 109 adult males, 201 adult females
and 213 cubs.

Asiatic lions live in
prides. Mean pride size, measured by the number of adult females, tends to be
smaller than for African lions. Most Gir National Park prides contain just two
adult females, with the largest having five.

IUCN Status:
Endangered (EN)

Bengal
Tiger or “Royal Bengal Tiger” (Panthera
tigris tigris):

This is the National Animal
of both India and Bangladesh.

By 2014, the Bengal Tiger
population in India was placed at around 2,226 individuals.

The Bengal tigers in the
Sunderbans in India and Bangladesh are the only tigers in the world inhabiting
mangrove forests.

IUCN Status:
Endangered (EN)

Fishing
Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus):

They are about twice the
size of a typical house cat. It is a feline with a powerful build and stocky
legs.

The Fishing Cat is an
adept swimmer and enters water frequently to prey on fish as its name suggests.
It is known to even dive to catch fish.

In India, fishing cats are
mainly found in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the
Himalayas along the Ganga (Ganges) and Brahmaputra River valleys and in the
Western Ghats.

IUCN Status:
Endangered (EN)

Rusty
Spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus):

This is one of the
smallest members of the Cat family. It is found only in India and Sri Lanka.
The total effective population size is below 10,000 mature individuals, with a
declining trend due to habitat loss.

In India, they were long
thought to be confined to the South, but records have established that they are
found over much of the country. They feed mainly on rodents and birds, but may
also hunt lizards, frogs and insects.

IUCN Status:
Vulnerable (VU)

Desert
Cat or Asian Wild Cat (Felis silvertris
ornate):

This is a wildcat
sub-species that occurs from the Eastern Caspian North to Kazakhstan into
Western India, Western China and Southern Mongolia. In India, Asiatic wildcats
inhabit the Thar Desert and are associated with scrub desert. In the scrub
habitat of the Indian State of Rajasthan they live largely on desert gerbils,
hares, rats, birds etc.

They have been also
observed killing cobras, saw-scale vipers, sand boas, geckos, scorpions and
beetles.

IUCN Status:
Least Concern (LC)

Asian
Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii, syn.
Pardofelis temminckii):

This is a medium-sized
wild cat which lives throughout South and South-east Asia, ranging from Tibet,
Nepal, Bhutan, India and Bangladesh to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam, Southern China, Malaysia and Sumatra.

It prefers forest habitats
interspersed with rocky areas and is found in dry deciduous, sub-tropical
evergreen and tropical rainforests.

Asian Golden Cats can
climb trees when necessary. They hunt birds, hares, rodents and reptiles, small
ungulates such as Muntjacs and young Sambar deer.

IUCN Status:
Near Threatened (NT)

Clouded
Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa):

This is a cat found from
the Himalayan foothills through mainland South-east Asia into China. Its total
population size is below 10,000 mature individuals, with a decreasing
population trend.

This is a musk deer
species occurring in the Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan, Northern India including
Sikkim and China.

White-bellied musk deer are
very well adapted for high altitudes. The male musk deer secretes a waxy
substance called musk from a gland in its abdomen. The deer use this to mark
territories and to attract females. The musk is also used in the manufacture of
perfumes and medicines. During the day, white-bellied musk deer hide in the
dense cover. At night, they emerge to feed in more open habitats.

IUCN Status:
Endangered (EN)

Barasingha
(Recervus duvaucelii syn. Cervus duvaucelii):

This is also called the
“Swamp Deer” and is found in India and to some extent in Nepal.

It differs from all the
Indian deer species in that their antlers carry more than three tines. Because
of this distinctive character it is called the “Barasingha” (or the deer with
“twelve horns” or “twelve-tined”).

Mature stags have 10-14
tines and some have been known to have 20.

The Barasingha is a large
deer with a shoulder height of 44 to 46 inches (110 to 120 cm) and a
head-to-body length of nearly 6 feet (or 180 cm).

Its hair is rather woolly
and yellowish brown above but pales below, with white spots along the spine.

About Me

I am Rajeev Prasad, a retired State Bank of India officer who had been collecting coins in a shoe box without having a serious interest. Only after quitting my job I got the time to take serious interest in developing my coin collection into a hobby. A pity, because I would have had more opportunity to lay my hands on more 'exclusive coins' while in the Bank. Anyway, as they say,better late than never. If you have any views to share with me regarding this blog , please contact me on my email rajeevprasad1208@gmail.com. I also have a twitter account @prasad_rajeev.
I had an opportunity to participate in a Documentary on the life and times of the 25 paise coin titled “Chal Basi Chavanni” (The four anna/twenty five paise coin passes away), aired by STAR NEWS on 29th and 30th June 2011. The programme helped in making many persons hold back onto their “chavannis”, the little round beauties, instead of returning them to Banks .